WhiteSox2023

NBC Sports knows what’s up… ”Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Mets have “checked in” on a potential trade for Luis Robert Jr. Robert has been the subject of trade speculation over the last few years, but it appears this winter we might see the White Sox actually pull the trigger. The Mets would make sense, but Heyman notes that in order for New York to give up their top prospects, the White Sox would need to send some cash back. That’s not a very Jerry Reinsdorf thing to do. The Padres have also been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Robert, among others.“

Yeah, I noted that signing in the Winter Meetings thread. $5.25 million including up to $1 million in performance-based incentives. Crazy. The guy has done jack the last two seasons. His agent did some great work with that deal.

Yep, chances are if you are athletic enough to play SS, you could transition to another position with less difficulty. Which is why drafting the SS position repeatedly is not a bad idea.

That’s why it was interesting to read that Paez sits at 91/92 normally but has gotten it up to 94. Maybe the Sox think there’s a little more juice to squeeze?

Yes, he has a good chance of sticking based on his control/command alone and if he continues his minor league history of walking very few. Hopefully he mixes up his repertoire enough that his low velocity fastball doesn’t get hammered like the little we saw from Thorpe. Gotta keep that thing away from being a mistake pitch right down the cock of the plate. I sure wish Getz and team could scout and choose hitters as well as they seem to recently with pitchers.

I never once said this. Obviously that isn’t true since Smith was the Sox best starter. Read my post again and try to answer the question I posed.

You don’t trust the source? I’ve heard that Noah Phallus is second only to Ken Rosenthal in reliability and stature.

This kind of money for Lane Thomas doesn’t bode well for anyone thinking Getz is going to sign another outfielder…

I had a glimmer of hope that once Getz convinced Jerry to approve picking up Robert’s option at the trade deadline, that JR may also be willing to eat some of the salary since Robert is one of their last remaining trade chips. It looks like I gave Jerry too much credit.

Official Brother Rice State Championship Gear for sale: https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/BRFBCHAMPS

Jerry is a noted cheapskate of an owner and it has nothing to do with the political slant of a newspaper/website. Not one Sox fan should be surprised by news like this. The same time Jerry is slashing the payroll to extreme lows is probably not the time to question this news. And Jerry is the one who thinks he is beyond reproach.

Haha, typical Jerry. What a freaking loser of an owner. The whole point in picking up Robert’s option was to get something out of him, even if you had to eat some of his salary. If you are trading him at full salary, your return will obviously be much crappier. Like @Bob Sacamano just said, what was the point of even picking up his option? I guess we should scour the Mets roster for whomever their player equivalent to Curtis Meadiocre is.

Okay, let’s get back on topic. It’s pointless to argue over a scrub organizational catcher with a 0.0 career bWAR as a means to bolster a team’s developmental prowess. How many other MLB teams’ best starting pitcher performance (2.3 bWAR for Smith) come from a Rule 5 pick in the same year the player was chosen, rather than a starter they already had on their roster? That’s a crazy statistic.

I still don’t understand what the Sox supposedly developed with Zavala. He was a much better hitter in the minors (.762 OPS) than he has been in the majors (.613 OPS) so it definitely wasn’t his bat that they developed. Also, is there a way to prove that Zavala didn’t have his own defensive skills at catcher to begin with? He is a bad backup catcher at best and more suited as organizational depth at catcher in AAA. If that is who anyone wants to claim that the Sox developed, that’s a sad state of affairs.

Exactly. The Sox obviously saw something they liked in Smith. I don’t remember if they tweaked him in any way or helped him add a new pitch once they acquired him, but how could the Sox not be able to churn out a pitcher of equal status as Smith or better with all the chances they have had over the years? I mean, the fact that their best chance at producing a good starting pitcher for the 2025 season was from the rarity of striking gold in the Rule 5 draft as opposed to numerous drafts and other player acquisition possibilities over recent years? That’s pretty crazy to think about.

We all knew Crochet was going to be traded and they had no intention of keeping him, so I don’t see him counting. Also, durability is a thing. I realize pitchers get hurt a lot but the Sox had so many pitcher injuries and surgeries that you have to wonder if it was truly fluky.

The Brewers also signed Greg Jones to a minor league deal. Almost as bad. 🤣

I do believe the Finnegan signing (2/$19) has priced the Sox out of the running for Fairbanks.

Well, durability is an important pitcher attribute as well. That’s why this Jedixson Paez pick is interesting. He doesn’t walk anyone and his best pitch is a changeup. I read that he usually sits at 91/92 but has gotten it up to 94. Sounds like he could have a better fastball than Drew Thorpe if the Sox can squeeze a bit more out of it, but it shouldn’t be at the risk of messing up his arm.

Well, I never used the word “embarrassing”. I said that it is “sad” that the Sox didn’t already have similar starting pitching talent as Smith. That is an indictment of the Sox, not the Twins, Tigers, or Brewers.

The sad part is that the Sox had to pillage another team’s player and he wound up being their best starter by far. Awesome that Getz and crew were able to identify Smith’s talent, but sad that they don’t have their own equally talented pitchers on the team already. Burke and Cannon are not that guy. I think that is the point that was being made.

Indeed. This shouldn’t be like when we had high hopes for Andrew Vaughn at #3. We should finally get our Bobby Witt Jr. at #1.

For once, the Sox may have an almost no brainer choice on ending up with a perennial All-Star position player. I really hope they don’t get cute and take a pitcher.

GreenSox is using SoxTalk to practice for his side gig. 🤣